Orientation

We finally had our Mountbatten Orientation last night. Most of us knew a lot of it already since we had been here for a while (a week and a half, in my case). They talked about what to expect at work, which I already knew since I had been there for a while.

Some of the different British work customs I have learned are:
- The birthday person is supposed to bring in food for his/her coworkers on his/her birthday.
- Everyone is very prompt. They do things on time to show that they have respect for another person's time. Much different than Latin America/Miami time. I'm going to have a hard time with this one. :)
- Pink and purple ties and shirts are very "in" for guys.

Another topic was the NHS (National Health Service), which I also already experienced firsthand because they had us register for a GP (General Practitioner) ASAP. A person's healthcare is centered around a GP, and each GP only takes clients from the area surrounding their practice. There are only certain times that clinics will accept applications for new patients.

My NHS experience: The clinic by my flat will only accept patients between 4-6 on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and a 2-hour slot during the morning as well, but I couldn't make that because of work). So I got off work early on a Tuesday to go in and it only took about 5 minutes to confirm that I lived in the GP's area and to fill out a quick medical form. They gave me a cup to pee in and bring with me for my appointment in November and I was off.

Another thing that we discussed in orientation was safety and travel.

They also talked about the Certificate that we are earning. We learned that they will deduct money from our stipend if we miss any of the classes (which isn't a problem for me since I actually look forward to the classes).

After orientation I stopped at Marks & Spencers, the department/grocery store, that was nearby. It was a little more expensive than the regular grocery stores, but I think the other ones were closed.

I bought stuff to make breakfast tacos. I have been craving them. I made one tonight and it was great! Okay, it wasn't actually that good since I realized that I didn't have salt or olive oil to cook the potatoes with, but I really missed eating them. When I come back to visit, I will be eating breakfast tacos every day!